122 -GLANDS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE 



pancreas and known collectively as the "Islands of 

 Langerhans," after their discoverer. Ssobelow, a 

 Russian, tied the pancreatic duct and noticed that 

 the pancreatic cells decayed; but not so the cells 

 of the "Islands of Langerhans." We have already 

 noticed that such an operation is not followed by 

 the appearance of sugar in the urine, whereas sugar 

 does appear upon the complete extirpation of the 

 pancreas. Hence it seems logical to conclude that 

 the pancreatic hormone is produced by the "Is- 

 lands" rather than by the pancreatic cells proper. 

 This view finds corroboration in the observations 

 of clinicians who have noticed that in cases of dia- 

 betes the "Islands of Langerhans" show degenera- 

 tion. 



How the amount of sugar in the blood is regvr 

 lated. Just how the pancreatic hormone regulates 

 the sugar output is problematical. Some claim 

 that it takes a hand in the oxidation of glucose to 

 carbon dioxide and water; and that in its absence 

 the glucose cannot be so oxidized, whence it ac- 

 cumulates in the blood and finds its way into the 

 urine. Others, on the contrary, are of the opinion 

 that it has nothing at all to do with the oxidation 

 of glucose, but that it does regulate the amount of 

 glucose to be formed from the glycogen in the liver. 

 In the absence of the pancreatic hormone, the regu- 

 latory influence being absent, excessive quantities 

 of glycogen are converted into glucose, which finds 



